Alicia Wells vs. Makoto Aihara - Boot to the Head

Match Type: Standard
Victory Conditions: Pinfall, Submission, or Knockout

Dear Diary,

So. Exciting day for me.

Back when I started up and signed the AFW contract, I had kind of a wishlist, you know? I'd been watching Friction for a while (the nonhentai bits, honest) and there were a bunch of wrestlers I wanted to take on right away. Silver Ace, Diana Accera, Lorenza Saldano, maybe Jessica Wright…

One of the big ones, though, was Alicia Wells. She's this big British girl with a killer MMA style and crazy legs. She's pretty high stock these days, and I really feel like she's the sort of challenge I need. Someone professional, someone good, someone I can take on to show I mean business here.

Well, guess what? Tonight, I'm getting my wish.

It took some finagling, but I managed to get the match booked. I'm about to get dressed for it, but I'm super psyched - this isn't just a chance for me, I think, but it'll be a great way for me to show what Judo can really do. Style vs style.

I can do this. I'm ready.

Just wish me luck, okay? I think I'm gonna need it!

Hugs and Kisses,

Makoto!

The crowd was always receptive to Makoto when she came out for a match. She was a local legend, after all - the gold medalist, the fighting heroine, the lovable Judo Babe who always stuck up for what was right and pure.

As she came padding out this time, though, waving to the crowd with her usual smile, she couldn't help but feel they were a tad bit louder than usual. She also couldn't help but feel that, maybe, it had something to do wth her opponent: Alicia Wells.

Alicia was a woman with a mixed reputation in the AFW. While her skill and strength were nothing that could be ignored, it was her attitude that most people seemed to complain about all over the Internet. Makoto had stumbled on some less than flattering words when she was studying the Briton, even by the low standards of YouTube comments.

Well, it could all be true, or maybe it wasn't. That wasn't Makoto’s place to say. She preferred to form an opinion of her opponents in the ring and not let bias cloud her judgment. The only fair way to do it.

She made her way up on the apron and politely slide through the bottom and middle ropes, quickly skipping to the center of the ring from there. She made her way to the center, bowed to the audience, then turned to the curtains as her music faded away. All the while, she hoped she didn't look as eager as she was feeling. Still wanted to look cool, after all. As much as she could.

With Makoto’s entrance done, there was a pause. A pause just long enough to let the audience stir, wonder what was going on.

And then the lights cut out. When they came back on a moment later, it was to reveal the Amazonian form of Alicia Wells stood in the ring – as it happened, right behind Makoto, though still out of arms reach of the judoka.

Her curvy-muscled form was clad in her usual battle gear, one hand absently tugging at the fingerless glove on its mate as Alicia listened to the sudden shift in the crowd’s tone without apparent interest. Or actual interest, in fact, as she waited for Makoto to notice her presence.

The redhead hadn’t been looking for this match but it was certainly not one she was going to complain about. While Makoto Aihara hadn’t held a wrestling title that Alicia could find, she did hold gold. Olympic gold, in fact, which was far more impressive. It didn’t mean she’d put up a fun fight; Alicia’s opinion on specialists was that they sometimes fell prey to the simplest of things when they weren’t used to them, but it definitely had potential.

She was very curious to see how this went. And, however it went, Alicia had another reason to be out here.

On first glance, Makoto wasn’t all that impressive. She was giving up half a foot almost in height and over forty pounds into the bargain.

Alicia was looking forward to seeing how she planned to overcome the disadvantages, particularly the dangerous edge the redhead had in reach – always nasty for a striker, particularly a kicker like Alicia herself.

Makoto wasn't quite as taken aback by what happened next. At least, not at first.

She’d watched Alicia’s matches, after all, so she was fully aware of the somewhat unorthodox entrance that was about to happen. It was a good shock tactic, trying to get into her opponent’s head from the start, but Makoto had come from a league where women rode motorcycles, destroyed cages, and fought off ninjas on their way to the ring. She wasn't one to be so easily cowed.

Or so she thought. Then the lights went off, came back on, and...Alicia wasn't there.

For a moment, she was extremely confused, and that didn't change when the audience start to rouse up, growing louder by the second. Calls to turn around prompted her to do just that, and she leaped away when she saw Alicia. Big. Menacing. Standing right behind her.

”Oh!” She was quick to straighten up and push the wrinkles out of her gi, maintaining her composure.

”Ha, you got me good, there!” Her trademark smile returned, and she extended her hand out along with it. [color:0a05=0000ff]”Makoto Aihara! A pleasure to meet you, Alicia-san.”

Alicia wouldn’t ever admit it. Not even to herself. But a tiny, tiny part of her did enjoy the reaction to her entrance. True, it was still over the top by her standards and she’d happily do without all the theatrics, but it was still a little fun. But she wouldn’t admit it, certainly not to Valley Doll.

The blonde wouldn’t ever let her hear the end of it.

But Makoto certainly lived up to her expectations, in more ways than one. The judoka jumped and jumped nicely, to say the least. She jumped back even, clearing even more of a gap between the two, but she almost immediately rallied.

Smiled even, and that was more than quite a few of Alicia’s opponents could say they’d managed, even if they had stood their ground with the redhead looming over them.

Well, Alicia was smiling too, though hers was a far less pleasant expression that Makoto’s. The redhead’s grin was something a monster might be jealous of, eyes alight with the thrill of the impending fight.

She didn’t respond to the Olympian’s comment, not the first one at least. But she did step up to match Makoto, taking the smaller fighter’s hand and shaking it firmly.

”Just give me a good fight, Makoto-san,” She held her grip for a long moment before releasing and backing away, stretching in preparation for kicking things off.

There was something subtly off about Alicia, and Makoto was having a bit of a hard time nailing down just what it was. Something in the smile,maybe. It was a genuine grin, she was sure of that, but there was an odd twist to it, one that didn't quite return the warm feelings she was sending Alicia’s way.

Quite frankly, it kind of creeped Makoto out, but she managed to block that out of her mind for the time being. No preconceived notions. Don't judge a book by its cover. All the stuff.

Besides, she returned Makoto’s handshake, firmly gripping her hand, and her request for a good match was wholesome enough. What could there be to worry about?

”Likewise!” Makoto chirped and backed away, giving the referee some room to come between them. After a quick check to make sure they were both ready, she threw up the signal and the bell promptly rung.

”Ganbatte.” To seal the trust between them, Makoto graced Alicia with solemn bow, leaning forward with eyes closed. One, final show of respect between two talented individuals, before they went to test their skills against one another.

Well, Makoto was being just a little too chipper for Alicia’s tastes there but better that than the attitude she got from a lot of her opponents.

That didn’t mean any lessening of her focus, her violet eyes fixed on the judoka as she readied for the starting of the match. She barely seemed to notice the referee doing her own final checks or the audience full of fans chanting for Makoto kicking her ass.

The ref signalled. The bell rang. And the two fighters… Did two very different and somewhat incompatible things.

This was one of those moments that’d be considerably less awkward if mind-reading was a thing.

Basically, as far as Alicia was concerned, the pre-match rituals had been observed. That meant that, as soon as she heard the bell ring, the redhead didn’t wait around.

So, the bell rang.

Alicia started to move.

Makoto started to bow.

The redhead pushed into a slight leap that took her up and slightly forward, as if trying to jump past Makoto.

And her foot came up and around in a scything arc aimed squarely at the other woman’s head. By now, she’d recognised what Makoto was doing but-

Perhaps it was too late. Perhaps Alicia was showing her more ruthless side; the bell had rung after all.

Regardless, her kick wasn’t stopping short of Makoto’s chin.

Makoto bowed, giving respect and honor to her foe,and then...frankly, she wasn't sure what happened.

As she bent over, she heard a noise and felt a vibration on the mat, though she wasn't sure where it was coming from. Alicia seemed the likely source, but that didn't quite make sense. Makoto was wide open and offering herself, vulnerable and trusting. She wouldn't take advantage of that...would she?

Makoto opened an eye and got an answer to that, in the split second where she saw the foot coming her way, right before it connected and the lights all went out.

In the land of the waking, the crowd all gasped as Makoto took a vicious, unprotected kick to the head, one that knocked her flat on her back and kept her there, still and unmoving. The referee immediately dropped down between the two combatants shook her about, looking for any signs of life. When she didn't find any, she held up her hands and gave the signal: the bell rang, making Alicia’s quick win official.

Needless to say, the crowd was less than pleased, and voiced their displeasure with a vociferous wave of boos.

Alicia hadn’t been able to see the result of her kick, but she’d known what it was going to be. She’d kicked too many people flush in the skull not to know how that felt, the impact rippling satisfyingly through the muscle and bone of her leg.

She’d hit, there’d been no attempt at a block, and the sound of Makoto’s body hitting the mat did not surprise her in the slightest. The redhead landed catlike on her feet, more or less standing over the judoka as the referee shot in to check. Her face lowered as she watched, the crowd were not able to see the rapid sequence of emotions that twisted at the British amazon’s features.

Surprise.

Shock.

Disappointment.

Maybe a little shame.

And then the storm clouds descended, Alicia’s expression darkening with growing fury. She stood for a long, long moment centre-ring, her gaze raking over the fans as they booed and booed and booed.

Then she stalked to the ropes.

”Microphone.”

It was a snarled command rather than a request, and one that was rapidly obeyed by a terrified-looking member of the crew. Snatching the device from him, Alicia stormed back to centre-ring, raised it to her lips and…

Paused.

Closed her eyes. Opened them.

”Valley Doll!”

The kickboxer roared her challenge, the amplified noise cutting through the noise of the ongoing booing like a hot razor through butter.

She didn’t say another word, returning to pacing the ring like a caged tigress. Around and around she went, mic clenched in one fist, the other clenching and releasing.

Waiting. Waiting for the champ.

Being the Entropy Champion had its advantages - access to the private locker rooms, a paycheck bonus, free drinks at pretty much any bar so long as she brought the belt along. But, as Valley quickly learned in her tenure, there were some small drawbacks, too. The most notable one being that she was expected to attend every Friction show and hang around backstage, even when she didn’t have any matches to wait for. Just in case someone challenged her, and she needed to be on hand.

A little annoying, but she couldn’t argue with the logic. Especially tonight.

Valley had been watching Alicia’s match from backstage, if you could even call the skirmish a ‘match’. It was hard to tell if the big redhead had cheapshotted Makoto, at least from the way the television screens caught it. Everything had happened so fast that the Judo Babe was on the mat before the cameras could even get a proper angle.

She liked to think Alicia was better than that sort of thing, that it had just been a little accident. But then Valley remembered Gallium, and the sight of her getting knocked out in her inexorable grasp, and it became a little harder to make the argument.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when she noticed that Alicia had a microphone in hand, which meant she was going to do something Valley didn’t think she’d ever seen her do before: cut a promo. And, true to form, it was a short one.

From her seat in the private locker room, the Champion sighed, stood up, and grabbed her belt off the mirror table. This day had been coming for a good long while.

Fortunately for the audience, it wasn’t too long of a wait before the familiar music began to play.

”YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHH!”

The Entropy Champion came out soon after and made her way down to the ring to the predictable fanfare. She wasn’t dressed for a match, wearing some bellbottom jeans, sandals, and a black t-shirt with the Last Jedi poster on it.  Even so, her face was serious and focused, as she came with her belt in one hand and the microphone in the other.

Valley slid into the ring and walked around the referee’s as they tended to poor Makoto, making her way to the towering redhead in the middle of the ring. She stopped short of getting in Alicia’s personal space, but she was definitely standing around the edge when she brought the microphone up to speak.

Some in the audience were calling for Valley to go right after Alicia, wanting to avenge their fallen heroine. Valley took a more measured approach to thing. ”Hi.” Her tone was casual, like they’d just met on the street, but there was an undeniable edge under it. ”You look like something’s on your mind, Big Red. Want to talk about it?”

To be quite frank, Valley needn’t have worried. If Alicia even remembered Makoto was still in the ring, she made no sign of it, her pacing taking her around the judoka’s limp form without so much as a glance cast her way. And that remained true even when the other woman was surrounded by refs and medical staff. The only change was that Alicia moved to centre-ring and waited there instead.

Not that she was kept waiting long at all before the familiar music hit and Alicia straightened up, some of the tension leaking almost imperceptibly out of her as her anger began to cool. Not that she was smiling as Valley made her way over to join her. Oh no, the big redhead was just as focused as the blonde champ, her eyes dark pits as they tracked Valley’s every move.

Her weight shifted subtly.

But she didn’t otherwise react until the two were facing down, the blonde coming closer than most would have. The redhead’s eyes did not even once stray to the belt in Valley’s hand, her attention entirely reserved for her… Friend? Was that even the right word?

Did she want to talk about it though?

Well, that was a question with a thoroughly predictable answer, somehow.

Alicia managed a harsh chuckle, bringing her mic up and taking that last step in – if Valley had any qualms about getting right up in Alicia’s face, the reverse was most certainly not true.

”Nothing to talk about,” A savage joy ignited in the depths of Alicia’s eyes, ”You owe me a rematch, Doll.”

She smiled wide and hard and cruel in the sudden silence, her words hushing the fans just enough for her next words to ring in the quiet.

”Time to pay up.”